← Back to High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
astro-ph.HE

Did a magnetar power the brightest supernova ever seen in gamma rays?

F. Acero, A. Acharyya, A. Adelfio, M. Ajello, E. Aviano, L. Baldini, J. Ballet, C. Bartolini, D. Bastieri, J. Becerra Gonzalez, R. Bellazzini, E. Bissaldi, R. Bonino, P. Bruel, S. Buson, R. A. Cameron, P. A. Caraveo, F. Casaburo, F. Casini, E. Cavazzuti, C. C. Cheung, N. Cibrario, G. Cozzolongo, P. Cristarella Orestano, F. Cuna, S. Cutini, F. D'Ammando, D. Depalo, S. W. Digel, N. Di Lalla, A. Dinesh, L. Di Venere, P. Fauverge, A. Fiori, A. Franckowiak, Y. Fukazawa, S. Funk, P. Fusco, F. Gargano, C. Gasbarra, D. Gasparrini, S. Germani, F. Giacchino, N. Giglietto, M. Giliberti, F. Giordano, M. Giroletti, I. A. Grenier, M. -H. Grondin, S. Guiriec, R. Gupta, E. Hays, J. W. Hewitt, A. Holzmann Airasca, D. Horan, X. Hou, T. Kayanoki, M. Kerr, M. Kuss, A. Laviron, M. Lemoine-Goumard, A. Liguori, J. Li, I. Liodakis, P. Loizzo, F. Longo, F. Loparco, S. López Pérez, L. Lorusso, M. N. Lovellette, P. Lubrano, S. Maldera, A. Manfreda, G. Martí-Devesa, R. Martinelli, M. N. Mazziotta, M. Michailidis, P. F. Michelson, N. Mirabal, T. Mizuno, P. Monti-Guarnieri, M. E. Monzani, A. Morselli, I. V. Moskalenko, M. Negro, N. Omodei, M. Orienti, E. Orlando, G. Panzarini, M. Persic, M. Pesce-Rollins, R. Pillera, T. A. Porter, G. Principe, S. Rainò, R. Rando, B. Rani, M. Razzano, A. Reimer, O. Reimer, M. Sánchez-Conde, P. M. Saz Parkinson, D. Serini, C. Sgrò, E. J. Siskind, G. Spandre, P. Spinelli, D. J. Suson, H. Tajima, D. J. Thompson, D. F. Torres, Z. Wadiasingh, K. Wood, G. Zaharijas, W. Zhang, E. Chatzopoulos, B. D. Metzger, P. J. Pessi, I. Vurm

May 28, 2026

A superluminous supernova—100 times brighter than ordinary ones—was caught emitting high-energy gamma rays by the Fermi space telescope. The timing and intensity of this emission match predictions for a magnetar (an extremely magnetic neutron star) feeding energy into the explosion, not a standard model where the blast rams into surrounding gas. This detection offers the first concrete evidence that some of the universe's most violent events are powered by extreme stellar remnants.
Published as Gamma-ray signature of superluminous supernovae: Fermi-LAT GeV detection of SN 2017egm and evidence of a central engine arXiv:2605.29909
Read the original paper →